


Idle Threats

by melonshino



Series: POC Reader Insert [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Allusions to the recent election, Cap will beat up dudes for you, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gender-neutral Reader, Hurt/Comfort, I wrote this to vent okay, I'm pretty sure anyway, POC Reader, Panic Attacks, Racism, Reader-Insert, Threats, Threats of Violence, lots of Sam hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 04:16:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8518174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melonshino/pseuds/melonshino
Summary: Reader gets comforted by her friends after someone says a few words to break her resolve. 
A (visibly) POC!Reader fic that I wrote this morning after my sister told me what happened on her walk today. I wrote this to vent and was only going to post this on tumblr but I didn't catch any hate there like I thought I would for it, so I'm posting it here too. Mostly in hopes that it might help someone else in times like this.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is a vent piece. My sister came home this morning from a walk and someone legitimately said this to her at the gas station. I don’t want shit over this, okay? I really don't like enabling comment moderation. I’m only posting just in case anyone else needs some Sam hugs or the Avengers to maybe beat up a dude for them because racism lol.

You woke up bleary-eyed and listless, palming around your bed for your phone just to make sure that what really happened last night had actually occurred. Your head was swimming from the amount of alcohol you had consumed to numb the dull ache that had settled in your chest after most of the results came in.

That man was going to be President of the United States.

That ugly, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, rapist sack of rotten oranges was going to be President of the United States of America and you were terrified.

As a person of color it was clear that dangerous times were ahead. Not just for you but for all the people like you. As an Avenger and someone outspoken about the injustices in your country, you could feel the thrum of danger in your veins grow louder and louder as the minutes ticked by.

Your friends and fellow Avengers had been right there with you in the common room while the results were rolling in and every one of them had watched you slowly sink into despair. You went shot for shot with Tony, who had a much higher alcohol tolerance than you, as each red state lit up on the map.

After a while you had taken to clinging to Sam as he was the only other one on the team who would face a similar danger to yours if this man was elected. Being visibly brown or black had always instilled a fear in the both you since you were small that people were out to get you. To do you wrong for the color of your skin. You both saw the worrying signs and the cries of white supremacy from every supporter and rally that you saw on the news. You stumbled back to your room alone, shoving away anyone’s help, before the last few results came in, knowing that it wouldn’t help.

You prayed that maybe the electoral college would actually pick up the slack this time but you knew in your heart not to hold onto the hope.

It was about six in the morning now, the only reason you didn’t have a hangover just yet was because the alcohol was still just barely churning through your system. You rolled out of bed and took the pills before you downed the large bottle of water that someone had put by your bedside last night. You slipped out of bed and changed into a comfortable pair of workout pants and a thin thermal shirt since it was getting colder now in the city.

The only thing you could think of was to run out the alcohol and the feeling of numbness that had settled in the pit of your stomach. So, that’s what you did.

You didn’t know how long you ran for, starting from the steps in front of the Tower. You just turned on your music, picked a direction, and ran until your legs were protesting so much that they buckled. Thankfully you were in a small park then so you all but collapsed onto a bench nearby and let your muscles rest for a moment. You couldn’t concentrate on much other than the blood pumping in your veins and the heaving breaths your lungs forced you to take.

Once your body calmed down enough to move again, you checked your phone to see how far you had made it away from the Tower. You scoffed then smirked tiredly as the GPS pinpointed you ten miles away from where you originally started, which was essentially well on the other side of the city. You forced yourself to get up, shaking out your limbs because you definitely needed to walk a bit for a proper cool down after running so long. Your water bottle had been empty for a while now so you stopped by a corner store to use the restroom and pick up another thing of water.

When you were finished with your business you wandered back into the store, mostly ignoring the few other patrons despite your training screaming at you to at least get their faces. You couldn’t be bothered, however. Not today, so you stared at the selection of drinks, mentally debating whether you should have more water or something with electrolytes in it. Your whole body tensed when you felt the presence of someone close behind you, immediately ready to defend yourself in a fight.

You slowly turned your head and you were met with an average-looking white man in a plain button up and jeans. He had a sneer on his face and an air about him that rubbed you in all the wrong ways. You leveled him with an intense glare then looked away, quickly snatching up a bottle of coconut water that you actually liked, ready to move on. As you moved to walk away he touched your arm and you snatched it away with an ugly scoff.

“ _You better watch out. We won_ ,” he snapped and you knew exactly what he was talking about.

The idle threat sent disgusted shivers of fear down your spine as he left the store entirely without buying anything. You hurried to the register and it was bit of a blur how you made it back to the Tower on your own. The sun was well into the sky by now and you had been gone for about an hour or so then.

You shuffled back to your room and collapsed face first onto the bed. The first few pangs of panic had settled in your chest, the nerves built up from yesterday and today finally eating away at your resolve. Hell, you dealt with this shit every day of your life being so often in the media as one of the two POC on the Avengers. You knew full well that he had been a regular man and the threat had little meaning to it but those few words were the last straw to make your tower crumble for the day.

You curled up into a ball and cried into your pillow, wailing sobs you knew would wake up more than a few of your teammates if FRIDAY hadn’t done that already because of your distress. You kicked off your shoes and curled up into your duvet, wrapping yourself into a cocoon.

After a few minutes you had quieted down to a few quiet whimpers and sniffles. The door eased open and you tensed again, even if you knew it was probably someone coming to check on you after all that. You stayed hidden under the blanket as you felt the bed dip under someone’s weight.

“Kiddo, talk to me– Talk to us. You alright?,” Tony’s soft voice echoed gently around your room. You shook your head under the blanket and pulled it closer to your body as he tried to pull it up to see your face. The other side of the bed dipped and you could feel a warm hand resting on your back even through the plush blanket surrounding you.

“You don’t have to talk about what happened, Y/N, but we wanna help you. What do you need right now?” Sam asked above you. A sob wracked through your body and you launched yourself from under the duvet and into Sam’s arms who hugged you tight to his chest. You sobbed into his shoulder until the tears ran out.

You could feel other presences in the room. At this point it was probably the entire team coming in to check on you too. You were sitting on Sam’s lap, head resting in the crook of his neck as you sniffled and hiccuped, waiting to calm down.

“I- I know I shouldn’t be surprised… And with all the shit in the news I- I shouldn’t even be this upset right now but just everything is too much. I woke up still kinda drunk so I wanted to run it out-,” you stammered.

“Y/N,” Steve spoke from somewhere in the room with a chiding tone but you knew it was just because he cared about your safety.

“I know, Cap. Just… leave it alone for today,” you mumbled against Sam’s shoulder but you knew he would hear you too.

“Anyway, I kind of just picked a direction and ran until my legs gave out. After resting a bit I went to a corner store to pee and get something to drink,” you murmured.

“Some white motherfucker came up behind me and just looked at me with the nastiest fucking smile. So I just glared at him and grabbed my drink. He tried to grab my arm and he said ‘You better watch out. We won.’ After that, I dunno, something in me just snapped. I barely know how I made it back here in one piece.

And I know there’s no real threat behind his words, I mean, I’m an Avenger. I get this everyday. But like- Just who fucking does that? Who fucking says that to somebody and thinks it’s okay? I just…! I wasn’t even wearing anything remotely democrat or anything! Just uugggh!! Who fucking does that?!”

Sam’s arms tightened around you and you knew he too felt the seething rage and deep-seated fear that you did. You felt him kiss your forehead and you sighed, silently thanking him for the comforting gesture. There was a pregnant pause in the room, most of them still unsure as to how to help.

“Soooo… I could probably track this guy down and beat him senseless. I feel like that’s a really solid plan,” Natasha’s raspy voice spoke from behind you. “Clint could just stick him with a dart from a mile away and no one would ever know it was us,” she added. You snorted happily and shook your head, still pressed against Sam’s shoulder.

“I feel like it would be the ultimate justice if we got Cap and Mr. Freeze to just wail on the guy. Think of all the freedom and baby bald eagles that would be born,” Tony joked from the other side of you. That sent you into a fit of giggles and you tried to hide your smile using Sam but he pulled you away a bit. Your eyes met his warm brown ones, only making you want to smile more.

“We’ll be alright, Y/N. We’ll get through this. Always have, always will. We just gotta do what we can to keep moving forward despite all this toxic shit,” Sam declared. You nodded in response, knowing he was right. All you could do is keep moving forward or they really would win.

After a much less uncomfortable pause, Steve spoke, “Okay, so, I’m honestly not opposed to giving this guy a few one-twos, though. Bucky you might have to keep back or he wouldn’t hold back using his metal arm.”

“I would definitely not hold back using my metal arm,” Buck deadpanned.

It sent you into a proper laughing fit and you were glad to know that your friends had your back even over such a small event.You didn’t really want  them to wail on the guy, as it wasn’t worth the effort. And they probably wouldn’t really go looking for the guy that said that to you. But, man, if they did, you definitely would not stop them.

**Author's Note:**

> Check me out on tumblr too, if you want~ ♥ @[melonshino](http://melonshino.tumblr.com/)


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